Explore the Practical and Therapeutic Benefits of Humor

You know what we’re talking about: laughter feels great! Sometimes moments of humor and laughter can almost feel like a magical, euphoric experience. At AATH, we study the science behind those experiences and how we can intentionally apply humor to make people’s lives better.

Did you know that humor’s innumerable health benefits include significant stress reduction, greater pain tolerance increased blood flow, and enhanced immune function? Plus, it has a wealth of other benefits, such as improved memory retention, enhanced trust, credibility, connection, and empathy. It even improves memory retention—did we already mention that one? ;)
 
If humor’s so amazing, shouldn’t we all be trying to work more of it into our lives? That’s where AATH comes in.
 
We enhance the health, well-being, and performance of people, organizations, and communities through humor.

About AATH & Highlights from the 2019 Conference

Learn more about who we are and what we do—and check out some clips from our 2019 conference in Chicago!

Laughter Exercises for Kidney Dialysis Patients

Our very own Teena Miller teamed up with Satellite Health to implement the nation’s first laughter therapy program for hemodialysis.
Fun fact: Teena’s a Humor Academy student, as well! 

TEDx Talk: Leading with Laughter: The Power of Humor in Leadership

AATH Past President Paul Osincup’s TEDx Talk explains why the best leaders don’t take themselves too seriously.

A doctor, an engineer, and a comedian walk into a bar…

Chances are it was it was during one of our many evening events at our yearly conference. Besides the extracurricular mingling, the best thing about AATH is our multitude of backgrounds and professional experiences. We have members from North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia! Six continents down, one to go. (If you’re a penguin from Antarctica, hit us up!) But there’s one thing we all have in common: we know without a doubt that #HumorHelps.

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Humor as a Personal Wellness Strategy

Some of our members find AATH because they recognize humor as an integral part of their own healing process or personal journey. From cancer diagnoses to extreme anxiety—and even tragic losses—people find the strategies, humor, and support of the AATH community to be a catalyst to developing their own resilience.

The Professional Application of Humor

Much of our membership consists of professionals who use (or want to learn to use) humor in their work to achieve a positive outcome. We have counselors and psychotherapists using humor as a treatment modality. There are members who are motivational speakers and consultant trainers who focus on humor as a tool for increased performance and decreased stress. We also have nurses and doctors earning CEU and CME credits who use or oversee humor therapy in their hospitals. Certified laughter leaders and laughter yoga practitioners come to learn new techniques, as well as the latest neuroscience and psychological research about laughter. Business and nonprofit leaders looking for innovative ways to boost morale, increase their influence, or create dynamic teams also join AATH.

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The Science of Humor

Our humor professionals couldn’t use evidence-based humor strategies without the evidence. This is where our researchers come in. An integral part of AATH is the research that gives credibility to comedy. We have member researchers from Harvard, Johns Hopkins University, Loma Linda University, UCLA, The American Institute of Stress, and many others. At our annual conference, researchers and scholars share their findings on how humor improves the human experience.